My Up and Down Weekend

This weekend I was scheduled to work. Saturday I had two parties to work and Sunday I had one. The Saturday parties were a good time. My first party was a scavenger hunt. The kids had a lot of fun finding everything. I had to help 2 boys with it who seemed to have a lot of trouble understanding the questions. But even though I basically walked them through it and showed them each answer they still had a lot of fun. My second party was a party which is essentially like a room rental. Different families do different things with these parties, some stay in the room the whole time, others ask us to take them through the building as part of their party time, but this one was my favorite types of party. The family asked me to sit in the room and as guests showed up I told them to head up into the building and come back down at 3:00 to eat. The party began at 2:00 so for the first hour I sat alone in a nice quiet room instructing guests to go upstairs and play for an hour and then come back. The second hour of the party went pretty quick, I had all the food ready for them when they came down so they could eat right away. They ate, we did cake, opened presents, and everyone happily went on their way. The father of the birthday boy was very pleased with my work and gave me my biggest tip ever!

Sunday was a completely different story. In the morning I was the "Floater" which means I did not host a party. As Floater, I took guests to the room their party was in, and also act as a gofer for the Party Pals hosting parties. This part of the day went really easy. No problems at all, I had a ton of extra time to prep for my party in the afternoon, get my thank you card for the day done, and sit and eat lunch. My afternoon party is what turned my weekend from an UP to a DOWN. Actually it turned it to a WAY DOWN. The boss had told me that she already had a few problems with the party mom while booking the party. I was also informed this party mom has a very interesting look, and to expect something out of the ordinary (pictured left is my rough drawing of what was described to me) She said to expect to have a few problems. There are some parties when you look at the name you can tell that they will be late. This was one of those parties. The party was scheduled to begin at 2:30. The party family arrived at 3:00 (pictured right is my rough drawing of what actually showed up). They had a lot of decorations and things they wanted to put up in the room also. I helped them get the room together while explaining to the party mom that we would have to change our normal schedule because the party began half an hour late. I asked her if she would like to move the time up in the building to the end of the party so we could get everything done downstairs first and then they would be free to play in the building until it closes. She did not want to do that, she said she wanted the kids to go upstairs in the middle of the party and come back down later. So I asked her if we could eat and do the craft at the same time in order to save time, she said that would be great. I announced that the guests could help themselves to the food on the table and I began working on the crafts with the kids. This was a party that has two different crafts. I explained the first craft which was designing and decorating a visor; two kids decided they would do it. Nobody went to the table for food While they were working on that craft, the boss and I blew up the 9 balloons they brought in and asked if I could blow up for them (after she told me she only had 3 or 4).

We blew them up and I went back in the room and told them it was time to go play upstairs. The kids followed me upstairs along with 2 of the 10 adults who were at the party. The kids who went upstairs were very poorly behaved. I had to repeatedly remind them not to run and to stop splashing each other. They were throwing toys across the room which sometimes ended in other guests getting splashed. The adults who came upstairs with us did not care that I had to repeatedly correct the children, nor did they care to say anything to them themselves. We went back downstairs at about 3:50 and the party was scheduled to end at 4:30. I showed them how to do the second craft and they finally began to eat. At 4:00 I asked the party mom if she would like me to begin with the cake because they only had the room for another half hour. She explained to me that the person with the cake hadn't arrived yet. I repeated that they only had the room until 4:30 and she said she understood.. The party dad came up and told me the cake would be there very soon the person bringing it had just called and was on their way. At 4:15 there was still no cake, I asked the mom if she wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" without the cake because we were running out of time. She then said "My mom is bringing the cake, her car broke down can't you help out a little and just wait." I found it funny that all of the sudden the person who I heard was on their way suddenly was in a broken down car. I informed her that there is a late fee of $50 for every 15 minutes the part is late and still in that room. She said she o.k. and that the cake would be there soon and they would be out, maybe just a few minutes late. At 4:20 I was called out into the hall by the party parents and they asked me about the late fee again. I explained it again and the dad said "so if we stay an extra half hour it is $100(pictured below)." I said yes and explained that we had cleaning crews who had to come in and the party staying late basically throws off that schedule and the schedule of staff trying to close the building at 5:00. Well 4:30 rolls around and the cake shows up. I once again explain the late fees and I'm told they will be out quickly. Eventually they finish partying, the party mom decides she wants to keep her Walmart clearance decorations and they ask for garbage bags to collect all the paper decorations and balloons around the room. Another employee, the boss, and I help them collect their $4.78 worth of decorations from around the room. By them time everything is all ready for them to leave it is 5:00, which is half an hour after the party ended, which they asked me about and understood would cost $100. I went out in the hall with the party parents and explained to them the cost of the party and the $100 late fee. The father gave me enough money to cover the party but said "I'm not paying no late fee. I wanna talk to your supervisor." The boss came out and he said "I'm not paying a late fee, that's ridiculous." The boss explained that the contract for the party states they have the room for a party 2:30-4:30 and that they were permitted to arrive a half hour early to set up. As she was explaining this the other guests from the party all came out and stood around us and began complaining about our late fees. The grandfather or uncle or some older man at the party said he would like to see the contract so the boss left to get a copy of it. I was left surrounded by a crowd of angry guests and I explained to them that they showed up a half an hour late and didn't really work with me to change the schedule even when I tried to hurry things up. I was accused of not helping them clean up and preventing them from getting out any earlier. I then explained that I did help clean up and picked up all their balloons, untied decorations from the lights, and threw away all their plates of food. The grandmother looked at me and said "Sir, I'm a Christian!" She then handed me $100 and said "everyone let's go it's over!" I thanked her, handed her the bill as a receipt and waited for them to leave.
After some time of figuring out the bill we realized they over paid the bill by $12 which became my tip. This was definitely the most trouble I had ever had with a party, I hope nobody ever has a party like that. So after receiving my best tip ever for a very easy party on Saturday, I had my worst party ever on Sunday. Luckily the weekend ended with a STEELERS VICTORY which helped my Up and Down Weekend end on an Up!! (Pictured above is a rough drawing of the party mom celebrating the Steelers win!)

Why I Didn't Blog Yesterday

Yesterday I didn't have time to sit and blog because I had to work at The Children's Museum. There were no birthday parties, but I did agree to go in and help them set up for a press conference the museum was holding to officially unveil the plans for the new park outside. I helped set some chairs up in the lobby and moved around a few display boards, it was very easy work. I probably sat around for at least an hour with nothing to do waiting for the conference to begin. During the conference my job was to stand behind the big display and help uncover it. Then I had to hand little champagne glasses full of lemonade to the distinguished guests and speakers who were on stage so they could toast to the new park at the end of the conference. The conference had a summer theme with the flower decorations everywhere (pictured left), and the lemonade, popcorn, and Rita's Italian Ice offered at the end. You may have seen the flowers before if you follow the blog Milly & Mega. You can head on over to that blog to see the numerous pictures Missy took of her flowers (like the one I stole from there and posted on the left). The flowers were really cool, but, sadly, I didn't do a good enough job protecting them. Missy told me if any kid went near the flowers to "slap the taste out of their mouth," but I didn't slap any kids. The following video is from the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's YouTube page showing clips from the press conference. If you look closely when the pictures on the large display are being revealed you can see my hand appear at the top of the display, pulling the curtains back.

Restaurants I Like and Dislike

The next restaurant in my series will be Chan An. This quaint little Chinese restaurant nestled in the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center is my absolute favorite place to get Chinese food. I call in and am greeted with the lovely voice of Mrs. Chan An saying "Chan An how can help you?" I tell her what I want, she quickly repeats it back to me, tells me my order number, and thanks me. I used to get the same order number no matter what I ordered, or when I ordered it. I could call in at any time and place an order and Mrs. Chan An would say "Take out order number 43. Thank you." It was uncanny that I was always number 43. I honestly think Mrs. Chan An knew my voice from calling in so much and purposely just gave me the same number every time.

I used to order from Chan An once or twice a week while in college. I would come home from school and go pick up some delicious food for lunch. I may have gone too often because Mrs. Chan An recognized me and when I walked in the door she would immediately know which order was mine, no matter how many she had packed and ready to go. I still go to Chan Ans often, not as often as I used to, but perhaps it is still too often. While trying to find pictures to add to this blog post I Googled Chan Ans Restaurant on the image search; while looking at all the pictures I found there is a picture of me on the second page!! My favorite dish to get there is the Hot and Spicy Chicken, with Fried Rice and Wonton Soup (pictured right).

Since I go so often I think you can already tell that Chan An is without a doubt in the "Restaurants I Like" category. I have never had a bad experience there, I am always happy with the food I receive from Chan An.

My Vehicle History

Many people around the world name their car. These names can come from physical attributes, colors, make, model, or other reason I have had 3 vehicles that I called mine, and all 3 of them have been named. My first vehicle was an awesome Emerald Green Dodge Caravan that I named Van Diesel. The name simply came from the fact that it was a van, that I frequently treated like a diesel truck, mixed with the name of popular thespian Vin Diesel (pictured left with a duck). This tailgating machine was fast, furious, comfortable, and strong; not strong enough to survive an accident though. Leigh Anne borrowed Van Diesel and was hit by a driver who ran a stop sign, and Van Diesel had to be put down.

My next vehicle was a white 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. This car's name came from a specific event that happened in the jeep. For Lauren's graduation party I was given the job of picking up fried chicken from Walmart and taking down to the party. When I did this my car smelled like fried chicken... A LOT! So because of this I named my car The Colonel. It was dressed in all white like Colonel Sanders (pictured left), and it smelled like chicken just like him too. The Colonel was an awesome car. He had some amazing character and we really bonded in our short time together. However during a road trip to New York City for the annual Hot Dog Eating Competition the Colonel had a rough trip. On the way to New York we hit a guard rail and on the way home while driving down the Pennsylvania Turnpike A WHEEL FELL OFF (pictured right)!! Yes while driving 1 wheel suddenly came off the car and decided to pass us and continue down the road. Luckily after much bouncing around and swerving Brian (who was driving during both incidents) was able to safely get us to the side of the road. The Colonel was patched up enough to finish the drive home, but he was totaled and moved on to a better place.

After The Colonel I knew I wanted another Jeep. I had wished I could keep The Colonel but because his war wounds were too extensive I had to find a suitable replacement. After shopping around I found a red 2005 Jeep Liberty Sport. This car was curvy and smooth, so I could tell it was a woman. It was red which gave it a spicy look, and of course it was a Jeep Liberty SPORT so it was quite sporty. I had to think of a name that incorporated all of this, sporty, spicy, and feminine (so it had some "girl power"). There was only 1 name I could give this vehicle (although many were suggested at different times). I named this new car Mel. After Mel C. or Sporty Spice (pictured left) of the famous Spice Girls. Mel has already made the Dave Kraemer Vehicle Record Books as the car I have owned the longest, and also as the first car I owned that survived an accident. Just a short time ago I stupidly turned at an intersection and hit another car. Mel took some damage to the driver's side front corner (pictured right). They can rebuild her, they have the technology, they have the capability to make the world's first bionic... alright well you get the point. The Six Million Dollar Mel will be coming back better than ever, and I will definitely be making na na na na bionic sounds when driving the car around when I get her back. Or maybe I'll just play the following clip over and over again:

Things I Love About The Internet

The Internet is an amazing thing. Information from around the world at the touch of a fingertip. The Internet probably changed the world more than any invention, or at least it would be in the top ten list. I can go on and on about the benefits of the Internet, however that is not what I will be blogging about today. Today I will be blogging about certain things I have found on the Internet that I absolutely love. Not everything on the Internet is a true benefit to the world, but that doesn't mean they aren't just as awesome and that is what I will be sharing today.YouTube is an amazing website. I have already used it to share some amazing television commercials on an earlier blog. I could spend hours just clicking videos on YouTube and watching more and more of them. There is a huge array of videos, many are posted just for a few friends to see, but then there's other people who post to try and be noticed. So many videos show a person, with their messy bedroom behind them, singing a "Popular" song hoping somebody will notice them and they will get their big break.

Another fantastic type of video is spoofing something that is already famous. Whether you are making fun of somebody else you already made it big on the Internet, or taking a famous cartoon from the 1980's and dubbing new audio over it to turn it into something completely different than it already was.

I also love internet pictures. I have used plenty of pictures in my blog already and I love just Googling terms and seeing all the ridiculous pictures that come up. Every now and then a trend hits the internet and people create a series of pictures to fit that trend. They can be spoofing a popular image, transposing a funny face onto a picture where it doesn't belong, or adding comedic captions to a picture. One of the biggest picture trends to hit the internet is LOLcats (pictured left). These are pictures of cats with captions written in internet shorthand and poor grammar (because cats aren't well educated). Sometimes 1 picture can be a trend all in its own and show up all over the place. That 1 picture is funny as a stand alone and when seen it will always make people laugh. I immediately thought of one picture when I started writing this article it makes me laugh every time I see it and just can picture it hanging up on the inside of a bathroom stall door (pictured right).
The internet is full of websites that collect wonderful gems like the few I've shared here. That is why The Backstreet Boys and I (pictured above) love the internet. You can find almost anything you want. No matter what your taste, there is probably a website out there for you. I shouldn't write an article about loving the internet without mentioning that it is also how I can write such a wonderful blog for my loyal reader(s) to enjoy. I really enjoy the fact that I can write about the crazy things that come to my head and that people seem to enjoy reading them. The internet is such a fantastic thing and I'm so glad that I can enjoy the awesomeness and share it with you!

Steelers Fans Still Care

I read a report yesterday that local store owners are saying people are not as excited about the Steelers this year as they have been in the past. Steelers merchandise sales are not seeing quite the "boom" they would normally see during playoffs, so therefore people must not care as much. I disagree, there was a lot going against the Steelers this season, and the fans were there to support the team through it all. Sure some may have been against a few decisions made by the team, but they still cheer the black and gold. With Ben's (pictured right) off field antics, that landed him a 4 game suspension, sports enthusiasts, and reporters from around the world pretty much counted out the black and gold. Some fans were outraged by his actions and wanted him off the team for good, some said his off field actions should have nothing to do with whether he plays or not, as long as what he does doesn't affect his abilities. But the main news coming in from NFL followers was that the Steelers would not survive this season with Roethlisberger out. Pittsburghers proudly defended the team and said "We can make it 4 games without him!" Sure enough, we did! The Steelers went 3-1 in the games without Ben, losing only to Baltimore.

Ben came back from his suspension after a conveniently scheduled week5 bye, and led the team to a 12-4 record for the season; including a win over the Baltimore ravens. There were 3 losses after Roethlisberger came back, along with some close scores. There were quite a few problems the Steelers had to work out even after Ben came back, but most people seemed to blame them on one person. Many of the problems the team had (according to many) fell upon the shoulders (or legs) of Jeff Reed (pictured left). He missed some key field goals this season, which is completely out of character for him. The Steelers Nation seemed to turn on Jeff, and the Steelers office did too. Reed was released, and Shaun Suisham was hired to take his place.

The "Stillers" also faced some other major distractions this season. Not only did they have to overcome Big Ben's suspension, and everyone saying they would fail without him, work though firing a veteran kicker and signing a new one, but they also were victims of the NFL's crackdown on "illegal" hits. The Steelers have always been and will always be known as a physical team, and it showed this year. Players were receiving fines for hits they made that the league deemed "unsafe and illegal." James Harrison (pictured left) became the NFL's poster boy for this crackdown. He was fined for multiple hits, some of which he was not even penalized for during the game. However, after all of these fines and being told he is tackling wrong, Harrison was once again named to the Pro-Bowl team. How can a guy, who for the first half of the season, was told he didn't know how to tackle, be named one of the best players in the league and get a spot on the Pro Bowl team?

After all the controversy and set-backs this season, the Steelers still made it to the playoffs as the 2nd ranked team in the AFC. They earned the 1st week bye and home field advantage for week 2. The Steelers are favored by 3 going into the game tomorrow. Three points is the exact number that decided both games earlier this season. Baltimore beat the Steelers 17-14 in week 3, and the Steelers beat the Ravens 13-10 in week 13. After the Steelers defeat the dirty birds, they will play the winner of the New England Patriots vs. New York Jets game. Both of these teams beat the Steelers already this season. So it seems as if the Steelers still have an up hill battle to make it to another Super Bowl. They have already overcome so much this year, but it isn't over, they have some tough games ahead of them. However, isn't that the way the Steelers seem to like it? The Steelers love being the underdog and silencing the critics. Merchandise sales may not be booming like they have been in the past, but this isn't the Clinton years, money is tight. While we may not be showing love monetarily, Pittsburgh still bleeds black and gold, and we still LOVE our Pittsburgh Steelers and we will show it every game day.

Restaurants I Like and Dislike

For the past two Wednesdays and a few random ones scattered before that, I have gone down (or should I say dahn) to Tad's on East Carson. I first went to Tad's because Tad, the namesake of the bar and owner/operator, is a good friend of my brother Boo. The main reason I keep going back is because on Wednesdays the wings are only 25 cents. These wings are not only cheap, but extremely delicious as well. I can honestly say these are my favorite wings in Pittsburgh. Recently, Steve, the best man at my brother Boo's wedding, took over the kitchen. He did a major expansion and overhaul on the menu. Formerly the menu had about 3 items, wings, fried cheese balls, and french fries (I honestly think that was all they had, maybe 1 or 2 other things). The menu now has a myriad of choices including burgers, chicken wraps, and a slew of appetizers. Also, the wing flavors now have normal names, before the new menu, wings had names like "Hot Lass" which did not describe what it tasted like at all. People were constantly asking "What does this mean? What about that one?" Now there is no confusion, Hot, Mild, and Medium are pretty self explanatory, as are the other flavors they serve.
As for the bar itself it is a very nice place to sit, eat, and enjoy a drink or two. Granted, I'm always there from like 7pm-10pm on a Wednesday night, so it isn't really a crowded time for a bar. I love going to watch the Pens' games. There are plenty of televisions around the bar so you can see one from any seat (this is a big plus for me, because so many places have seats where you have to twist and turn and strain to see a television with the game on). Jordie, the bartender, is super nice too. He keeps my drink full and is very nice and personable.

I highly recommend checking out Tad's on East Carson, especially on a Wednesday. Last night dinner for two (a dozen wings for me, eight for Erica, and splitting an order of fried cheese balls) and a few beers cost me $13, and we were full. You can't beat that! This easily falls into the "Restaurants I Like" category. If you stop down tell Tad Dave Kraemer sent you (maybe he'll give me a free beer or something). Even if Tad wasn't a friend I would still love this bar and their food, everyone who I have been there with has loved it too!